Tag Archives: Financial Aid

Celebrating MyIntuition: A Great Net Price Estimator Alternative Why is the completion rate for net price calculators low? Leave aside the fact that too many schools still make then (intentionally or not) hard to find. The standard “net price calculators” are mini-versions of the FAFSA form. That’s why completion rates are low. Back in February […]

MyIntuition: Quick & Easy Cost Estimate at a Public University In February 2014 I picked a “MyIntuition” cost calculator at Wellesley College as a quick and easy alternative to Net Price Calculators that most often were needlessly FAFSA-like in the number of questions asked and time required to get a price estimate. The Wellesley College […]

Prompting Students to File an Early FAFSA: 5 Seconds or Less Reaction from colleges and universities to the Federal Government’s creation of an early FAFSA filing date has been, to be kind, mixed. Relatively few colleges and universities have made changes on their “financial aid and scholarship” web pages to seriously promote use of the […]

Net Price Calculator vs. Merit Scholarship Estimator Augustana College has a strong website in many areas, including the entry page for Admissions. I used that page as a Link of the Week selection to illustrate a “top task” approach to page design that makes it more likely that potential students can more quickly do what […]

May greetings to everyone. As you read this I am on my way to Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta, my second visit to a most energetic and enterprising university. This is also my week to finish details for my digital marketing strategy tutorial at the J.Boye Web and Intranet Conference (bit.ly/wRxeCi) next week as […]

Reed College, Tuition Discounting, and the Future of Private Colleges & Universities Reed College is controlling the tutition discount rate by increasing enrollment of new freshmen who can afford a $50K per-year cost without an increased college contribution. NACUBO last released a tution discount report in May 2009, based on a survey for discount rates for the […]

Muhlenberg College and the “Real Deal” on Financial Aid In yesterday’s blog post on a parent’s reaction to the cost difference between Northeastern University and University of Connecticut, I mentioned the practice of “preferential packaging” that is widespread in the private sector and not unknown among public institutions. Preferential packaging isn’t new in 2009. Financial […]

Every since I visited my first online financial aid/scholarship calculator at the University of Toledo 3 or 4 years ago, this service has been gradually expanding at more schools. This latest addition to my blog list turned up in conversation during a presentation at ACT’s annual Ohio conference in Columbus on Wednesday. Visit the “Financial […]

In a market sensitive response to present and impending economic constraints, two colleges have already announced that they will not increase tuition in 2009. Merrimack College trustees voted December 9 to hold tuition steady while also increasing financial aid by $1 million… and they’re receiving good press coverage. Read the official announcement at http://tinyurl.com/8ukzwk and the example of good press. […]

This really is an area where colleges and universities were very slow to adopt a marketing services attitude in an area that’s of high interest to just about every family sending a child to college. That interest will express itself at different times during the recruitment cycles. An appropriate marketing approach will give people the opportunity to learn […]